Laundry drier



Oct. 13, 1942. E. J. DQWNES' 2,298,352

LAUNDRY DR I ER F'il d Sept. 6, 1940 //v1 /v 70/? Edward DOW/765Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ments whereby thecapacity of laundry driers may be substantially increased.

One type of drier employed in laundries for dry" ing, deodorizing andlike purposes comprises a foraminous cylinder which may be formed ofwire screen or the like and which is open at one end and rotatablymounted within a housing. Heated air is passed through the housing anthrough the cylinder. Access to the interior of the cylinder is gainedby opening a door in the side of the housing and through thedoorway withwhich the open end of the cylinder registers. The interior of thecylinder is provided with a plurality of bailies which extend radiallyinward from the sides thereof for a comparatively short distance andserve to tumble or agitate the goods placed therein as the cylinder isrotated while the hot air is passed therethrough.

It is customary to dry the customers washes separately and to place butone customer's wash in one of these cylinders at a time. Of course, thevolumes of the washes may differ greatly and a cylinder, therefore, mustbe of such diameter as to accommodate a large volume L work. Hence, whenonly a comparatively small wash is being dried thereinthere isconsiderable waste space and a waste of time.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a removablepartitioning element which is adapted to be positioned in a cylinder ofthe character above pointed out and which serves to subdivide thecompartment within said cylinder into two separate compartments wherebytwo comparatively small washes may be simultaneously dried.

I accomplish the foregoing object by means of the novel elements and thecombinations and arra'n'gements thereof described below and illustratedin the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. l is a perspective view of alaundry drier;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my partitioning element;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional elevation view, somewhat enlarged, ofthe partitioning element taken in about the plane 3-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross sectional view of the foraminous cylindershowing my partitioning element arranged therein.

The cylinder 3 is open at one end, as above indicated but the other endthereof may be closed by means of the end wall 6 as illustrated in Fig.4. To the sides of the cylinder. 3 are connected a plurality ofdiametrically opposed baiiies I which extend longitudinally of thecylinder and project radially into the interior thereof In order tosubdivide the interior of the cylinder into two smaller compartments, Iprovide a removable partition, indicated generally at 8, which isgenerall foraminous and, in the embodiment illustrated, comprises a pairof relatively movable screens 9 and H] which are preferably hingedtogether. These screens comprise suitable rectangular frames II and I2,respectively, having a width substantially equal to the axial length ofthe compartment in the cylinder 3 and of such'length that when arrangedside by side and in substantially co-planar relationship, as illustratedin Fig. -2, the length of the Referring to the drawing, I indicatesgenerally a laundry drier of the character above referred to comprisinga housing 2 through which hot air is adapted to be passed and withinwhich a screen or foraminous cylinder 3 is rotatably mounted. Housing 2is provided with a doorwaythrough which access may be gained throughWithin the frames II and I2, respectively, are

arranged screens or like foraminous elements I3 and I4, the framesencompassing the edges of the screens as shown in Fig. 3

The screens 9 and III are hin'gedly connected together by means ofhinges I5 and I6 which may be welded or otherwise suitably secured tothe frames I I and I2 of the screens.

At opposite ends of the partition, I provide bathe-engaging members I1and I 8. In the embodiment illustrated, these'members are, generally,U-shaped and they'are preferably pivotally connected to the screens 9and I0, respectively. The pivotal connections may be accomplished byemploying the hinge straps I9 and 20. Hinge straps 9 are fastened to thebaflle-engaging members and straps 20 are suitably fastened, as bywelding, to the frames of the screens (see Fig. 3). The hinge pin 2| maybe welded to the strap I9 and engages the strap 20 to provide pivotalconnection between the baffle-engaging elements channel members and,when in engagement with both channel members, prevents relative pivotalmovement between the screens.

Preferably, the latch member is provided with an opening 26 so arrangedthat it will register with an opening 21 in the channel member 24 whenthe latch member lies in engagement with the channel member 23. A spring28 is riveted adjacent one end thereof, as indicated at 28, to thechannel member 24 and adjacent the other end thereof is secured a stud38 which is adapted to pass through the opening 21 in the channel 24 andenter the opening in the latch member 25 when in the positionillustrated. The spring may be upturned at the end thereof adiacent thestud 38 as indicated at II to provide a means whereby it may be actuatedto withdraw the stud from ngagement with the latch member.

A stop element 32 (see Fig. 3) is secured to one of the screens as, forexample, to the frame H of screen 9 and is adapted to engage the frameof screen 8 when the screens are positioned substantially in co-planarrelationship. The partition 8 may, therefore, be folded or the screensmay be relatively pivoted until they occupy substantially the same planebut, due to stop 32, further pivotal movement thereof beyond thisposition cannot occur.

To position the above described partitioning element within the cylinder3, the screens 8 and 9 are pivoted relative to each other in order tocollapse the partitioning element. When the partition is so collapsed itmay be readily inserted through the open end of the cylinder'andthereafter expanded. After the partition is so inserted, thebaffle-engaging element I! may be positioned over one of the bailles land the other baffle-engaging member i8 thereafter positioned over adiametrically opposed baiiie after the screens have been pivotedrelative to and away fromeach other. When the baille-engaging membersare so positioned in engagement with a pair of diametrically opposedbaflles and the screens 8 and ill have been pivoted to a substantiallycoplanar relationship, the latch member 25 may be moved through thechannel member 24 and into engagement with the channel member 23. When,of course, the stud 30 on spring 28 registers with the opening in thelatch member 25, it will enter and lock the latch member in position.Upon actuation of the latch member to the position above described,relative movement between the screens will be prevented, and, with thepartition element so positioned, the interior of the cylinder will besubdivided into two compartments.

To remove the partitioning element, it is merely necessary tounlatch'the screens 9 and I and to collapse the partition by pivotingthe screens relative to each other as in a folding operation. Thepartitioning element may then be readily withdrawn from the cylinder.

It will beunderstood that though I have described my invention asapplied to a laundry drier of one type, the partition may be employed inother type driers and the invention may be .used for cleaning,deodorizing and other purthe sides thereof, said partition comprising aplurality of screens connected together but relatively movable wherebysaid partition may be collapsed and expanded, means disposed at oppositeends of said partition and adapted to engage the baffles in saidcylinder, and means for -holding said partition in expanded condition.

2. A removable partition for the cylinder of a laundry drier having aplurality of radiallydisposed bailles therein extending inwardly fromthe sides thereof, said partition comprising a plurality of screenshingedly fastened together whereby said partition may be collapsed,means disposed at opposite ends of said partition and adapted to engagethe battles in said cylinder,

nected to opposite ends of said partition and adapted to engage thebailles in saidcylinder, and means for holding said screens insubstantially co-planar relationship.

4. A removable partition for the cylinder of a laundry drier having a.plurality of radially-disposed baliies therein extending inwardly fromthe sides thereof, said partition comprising a pair of screens hingedlyfastened together whereby said partition may be collapsed, meanspivotally connected to opposite ends of said partition and adapted toengage the baffles in said cylinder, and means for holding said screensin substantially cc-planar relationship.

5. A removable partition for the cylinder of a laundry drier having aplurality of radiallydisposeci baiiies therein extending inwardly fromthe sides thereof, said partition comprising a plurality of screenshingedly fastened together whereby said partition may be collapsed,generally U-shaped members connected respectively to opposite ends ofsaid partition and adapted to engage the battles in said cylinder, andmeans for holding said screens in substantially coplanar relationship.

6. A removable partition for the cylinder of a laundry drier having aplurality ofradiallydisposed bailies therein extending inwardly from thesides thereof, said partition comprising a plurality of screens hingedlyfastened together whereby said partition may be collapsed, generallyU.-shaped members pivotally connected respectively to opposite ends ofsaid partition and adapted to engage the bailies in said cylinder, andmeans for holding said screens in substantially co-planar relationship.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination with thecylinder of a laundry machine, of a removable partition for subdividingthe interior of said cylinder into two compartments, said partitioncomprising a plurality of screens connected together but relativelymovable whereby said partition may be collapsed and expanded, th einterior of said cylinder and said partition being provided with meansadapted to engage each other for supporting said partition when expandedin operative, cylinder-subdividing position, and means for holding saidpartition in expanded condition.

EDWARD J. DOWNES.

